Prof Elliot said: “The number of outlets in the UK has declined dramatically. There used to be over 40 right across the UK but the numbers are getting smaller and smaller each year.

“It is getting to a point where I am worried we are getting to a critical mass of expertise in this area.”

Prof Elliot, director of the Global Food Security Institute at Queen’s University Belfast, was commissioned by the government to investigate after millions of burgers, ready meals and packs of mince were found to contain horsemeat.

“Less and less food testing is being done in the UK now,” he said.

“It is all about the cutbacks being made in local and central government now.

“They are looking for different areas to cut and food testing seems to have been chosen.

“Local authorities have difficult decisions to make. Wherever their budgets are being cut they have got to find the money.”

Prof Elliott said there are around a dozen labs left across the UK.

He said: “In England it is down to single figures, it’s down to seven or eight.

“What happened with the horse meat samples is that loads had to be shipped overseas to be tested.

“If we do not have the national infrastructure to do that testing it will have to be done somewhere.

“Whenever the next food safety crisis comes along where will we be in the queue to get testing done?

“If there is a pan-European problem like Horsegate across 26 or 28 member states and they all want testing done at once what will happen?

“If you have got to go to Germany for testing which samples will take priority – ours or Germany’s?”

Prof Elliot said “speed is everything” during food testing.

He said: “You need results back as quickly as possible.

“If you think back to 2013 there was enormous pressure to find out what was going on.

“This needs serious attention. We need to retain a national asset that is needed for food safety and food testing.”

“If you don’t have a publicly-run lab you could get into serious difficulties,” the bacteriology expert said.

“Like horsemeat, where something comes out of the blue and suddenly there’s an enormous issue, the public want it resolved and you have to work out if there’s a public health threat.

“You have to work out what the scale of the problem is and you need some sort of central authority working for the public to do that.

“You can’t do that just by relying on outsourcing all your testing.”

Cardiff council blamed the closure of its £200,000-a-year lab on £48m of cuts it had to make this and next year.

“We have had to review all non-statutory services to explore alternative ways of delivering these services,” a spokesman said.

“In this instance the council is moving towards a demand led service by commissioning work when there is a requirement.

“The council explored a number of options to assess whether it was viable to keep the facility publicly owned and despite efforts made, unfortunately there wasn’t a viable business plan for the facility.”

Two firms are now bidding to run the service for less.

“We will continue to work closely with the Food Standards Agency on preventative measures and enforcement action to ensure public safety is maintained,” the spokesman said.

The Food Standards Agency “noted” the closure.

“Laboratories such as this analyse samples for both local authorities and private businesses and part of this work is about ensuring that legal standards are met,” a spokeswoman said.

“The provision of such facilities across the UK is an important aspect of food sampling activity.

“It’s known that several local authorities in south-east Wales use the services operated by Cardiff council.

“Like Cardiff, they too will now need to have their samples analysed at an alternative laboratory.”

A spokesman for the government said: "The government’s priority is to ensure UK consumers can trust that their food is safe and that animals are protected from disease.

"That is why we have ensured that the number of vets that monitor disease in livestock has been maintained at the AHVLA.

"Through better joined up working between all the agencies involved we are targeting areas where public welfare is most at risk.

“All local authorities have a legal duty to ensure food safety. It is their responsibility to meet that obligation and ensure testing facilities are available. The FSA has provided £2 million to local authorities for additional sample funding."

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